2025 Formula 1 hopeful will be Liam Lawson’s ‘number one fan’ at US Grand Prix

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Liam Lawson begins his audition for a 2025 Red Bull seat at the United States Grand Prix this weekend. That means neither of the team’s two line-ups are finalised for next year.

When it became that Daniel Ricciardo was no longer fast or consistent enough to merit a reunion with Max Verstappen, Red Bull made a change. Lawson now has six races to prove that he’s worthy of taking Sergio Perez’s drive.

Of course, Perez isn’t powerless in the process. If he can drive even close to the level he showed in Baku – where he outqualified Verstappen – then Red Bull may honour his contract.

Equally, if Lawson’s return is underwhelming, it will reduce the pressure on the Mexican. It may be that they stick with what they have heading into 2025 instead.

Yuki Tsunoda is also a Red Bull candidate, but is likely third in line behind Perez and Lawson. If he beats the New Zealander at every race between now and Abu Dhabi, the team might finally give him a chance.

He’s only just replaced Ricciardo, but the pressure on Lawson will be lowest this weekend. That’s because he’s taking a 10-place grid penalty for a component change, and will only have one hour of practice in the VCARB 01 before Sprint qualifying.

James Hinchliffe says Isack Hadjar will be ‘cheering’ for Liam Lawson at US Grand Prix

One driver hoping for an opening at RB is Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman, who’s part of the team’s academy, is battling McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto for the Formula 2 title.

Should Tsunoda, or more likely Lawson, receive a promotion, he would be the outstanding candidate. That’s why Formula 1 pundit James Hinchcliffe says he’ll be ‘cheering for’ his competitors.

Speaking on F1TV’s Weekend Warm-Up show, Hinchcliffe declared that Hadjar has become Lawson’s ‘number one fan’. Christian Horner is excited about Arvid Lindblad but he’ll be racing in F2 next year instead.

Red Bull could also move for Franco Colapinto, who has impressed at Williams but won’t race for the team next year due to the arrival of Carlos Sainz. However, they may have misgivings about shopping outside their driver pool.

“He’s basically hoping that Lawson crushes it over the next six races, gets the promotion to Red Bull, opens a seat at V-CARB and off you go,” Hinchcliffe said of Hadjar.

“It’s rare that racing drivers are going to cheer for their competitors to do really well, but in this case I believe that’s exactly what Hadjar wants. He is Liam Lawson’s number one fan right now.”

Why Red Bull are unsure about promoting Isack Hadjar

Hadjar has appeared in three FP1 sessions so far, the first of which came at last year’s Mexican GP with AlphaTauri. He then represented Red Bull in Abu Dhabi and Great Britain.

At Silverstone, he faced the ultimate benchmark in Verstappen, but the team would still have expected him to be closer than 1.5 seconds. Hadjar didn’t make a ‘massive impression’ that day.

Colapinto and Oliver Bearman have been instant hits after graduating from F2. But Horner needs to see more from his own junior driver in F1 machinery before he decides whether to back him.

Indeed, The Race’s Ben Anderson says Red Bull remain unsure about Hadjar. The team want to get back to promoting young talent again, so they may have to give him another run in the post-season Abu Dhabi test.